The Pillars of an Islamic State

Abstract

It is a common mistake that any one of the present systems of Government is considered an Islamic State. And having its good and bad qualities in mind, discussions begin on the topic of the Islamic State. In fact, the label of the Islamic State cannot be affixed to any prevalent form of government in the whole world. The Islamic State is neither a despotic nor a dictatorial one that plays vvith the lives of the people according to the whims of despots or dictators. The dictatorial government slaughters its opponents and rewards its favorite ones. Such powers have been generally used by dictators and kings. Even the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) and his Caliphs and Hazrat Ameer (Ali) did not enjoy such powers. An Islamic State has neither the parliamentary form of government in which the people elect a group of people who enact laws and impose them upon the people, nor is an Islamic State a presidential form of government in which the people elect a president who, along with his other colleagues, makes laws and imposes them upon the people.

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Imam Ruhullah Khomeini. “The Nature of the Islamic State and the Qualifications of the Head of State.” In Khumeini [Khomeini] Speaks Revolution, compiled by Mohiuddin Ayyubi, translated by N. M. Shaikh. Karachi, Pakistan: International Islamic Publishers, 1981, pp. 14–19.